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"The Government's own figures show that is just not the case. Will you take this opportunity to correct what you told the House last week."

Mr Brown replied: "Yes. In the building of the Olympics capital investment will rise very substantially.

"I can tell you that capital investment is rising from £29 billion to £37.7 billion and then to £44 billion in 2009-10 and that is to help complete the building of the Olympics."

To Tory jeers, he added: "Thereafterwards it will fall as a result of decisions that we made."

He said the comparison was between £44 billion of investment now and in 1992, when Mr Cameron was advising at the Treasury, investment of only £16 billion.

Mr Cameron retorted: "That is just not good enough.

"Last week you made a clear statement to the House. You said capital expenditure will grow until the year of the Olympics.

"Here are the figures - capital expenditure this year, 2009, is £44 billion. Next year, 2010, it is £36 billion. The year after, 2011, it is £29 billion and in the year of the Olympics, 2012, £26 billion.

"That is a cut of almost half from £44 billion to £26 billion. So will you now apologise, correct your statement and admit you are cutting capital expenditure?"

Mr Brown angrily replied: "I was just explaining how we had brought forward capital investment to last year and this year.

"The figure in 2006-07 for capital investment was £26 billion. It has risen to £38 billion in 2008-09 and to £44 billion in 2009-10.

"That is so we can advance capital expenditure to deal with the downturn. You want to cut capital investment now. You want to cut it while we are increasing it.

"We are increasing it to complete the building of the Olympics and other projects.

"You have to face up to the fact that you are going to spend less than us in every year."

"You made a statement to the House about capital expenditure growing every year and the fact is it is being cut.

"If you believed in transparency and honesty and truth in public life, you would get up and say 'I'm sorry. I got it wrong. I gave the wrong figures. Here are the right ones'.

"Now do it!"

The Opposition leader said the Prime Minister had talked about spending in years that had "already happened".

He said: "You said last week that capital expenditure would grow between now and the Olympics. The figures are here in the Budget book - capital expenditure £44 billion in 2009; falling to £36 billion, then £29 billion, and then in the year of the Olympics £26 billion.

"There is no other way you can cut it. There is nowhere else you can hide. You've got to stand up, explain you got it wrong and say that what you told the House last week was wrong.

"Why not do it for once?"

Mr Brown said: "We brought forward current and capital spending to deal with the recession.

"Spending is £44 billion in the year 2009-10 - that is the highest capital expenditure ever in our country.

"It compares with the recession years under the Tories when capital spending was only £12 billion or £16 billion.

"We are taking the action to invest in our public services. The Tories would cut our public services now. Why don't you admit it would be 10% cuts in public services under the Conservatives."

Mr Cameron said even the Prime Minister's colleagues didn't believe his claims about Tory spending figures.

"This is the report we had from last week's Cabinet: 'Darling pointed out that Brown's Tory cut figures did not represent the Conservative party's policy but were merely extrapolations. Cooper, previously the Treasury minister responsible for public spending, echoed his concerns'. According to one source who was present 'Brown was visibly irritated at the way he had been undermined and brought the meeting to an early close'.

To Tory laughter, he added of Mr Brown's recent admission: "You say you want to be a teacher. It sounds like you've lost control of the classroom."